The European social model(s) and the self image of Europe

During the 1990s a vigorous debate emerged in the EU over social policy.

First enounced as a ‘European social dimension’, the debate rapidly turned to another concept: the ‘European social model’ (ESM). It appeared in the

European political debate promoted by the European Commission in the

mid-1990s, and has since become a successful catch-all concept for Eur-

opean as well as national politicians and institutions to deal with current

socioeconomic challenges in the EU.